Item Details

title

ABUNDANCE, BIOMASS, AND HABITAT SELECTION OF TROPICAL HERBIVOROUS FISH ACROSS A TROPICAL REEFSCAPE

author

Oswald, Espen James

abstract

Coral reefs face unprecedented challenges due to climate change, overfishing, and pollution. The once-dominant hard corals are giving way to algal-dominated ecosystems, hindering coral growth and resettlement. Herbivorous fish, particularly roving herbivorous fish (RHF), play a crucial role in mitigating algal overgrowth, influencing benthic composition and community structure. Despite their ecological importance, there is a notable lack of information on the population sizes and distributions of RHF, especially at the reefscape scale. This study, conducted at Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Belize, uses 3D videography to investigate the abundance, biomass, and community composition of RHF across reef zones and habitats. The findings reveal substantial variability in RHF abundance and biomass, with distinct population and community patterns linked to habitat characteristics. The study emphasizes the inadequacies of traditional survey methods, suggesting the need for revised methods to estimate biomass more accurately. For example, understanding the importance of rare events, such as rare but highly consequential schools of RHF with large numbers and/or large body sizes, is crucial for understanding the effect of herbivorous fish on reef ecology. The findings of this study provide critical information that can be used to inform conservation strategies.

subject

Abundance

Atoll

Biomass

Community Composition

Reef Zones

Roving Herbivorous Fish

contributor

Silman, Miles R (advisor)

Anderson, T Michael (committee member)

Layman, Craig A (committee member)

date

2024-05-23T08:36:21Z (accessioned)

2024-05-23T08:36:21Z (available)

2024 (issued)

degree

Biology (discipline)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/109441 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

type

Thesis